ISL offers Rs 15 crore in prize money

Marcus Mergulhao | Updated: Aug 17, 2014, 3:00 IST

Panaji: Indian football is set for exponential growth, courtesy the Indian Super League. If money is the key parameter, the ISL’s payload -- 11 times the prize money that India’s premier football competition offers – promises to take the sport an echelon higher if not more. The I-League, India’s top competition which provides winners with a ticket to compete with Asian football’s elite, offers a purse of Rs 70 lakh for the winners but the ISL has offered a jaw-dropping Rs 15 crore in prize money which includes Rs 8 crore for the winners. The losing finalist will walk home with a purse of Rs 4 crore while the two other semifinalists who miss out on a place in the final will have to settle for Rs 1.5 crore each, according to tournament rules issued by IMG-Reliance, organizers of the ISL, to all eight participating franchisees. The ISL prize money is second only to the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket for sports competitions in India. The IPL, which inspired the formation of the ISL, a franchise-based tournament, has Rs 35 crore in prize money alone, with the winners getting richer by Rs 15 crore. Hockey India League (HIL) offers Rs 2.5 crore for the winners, while the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League is a lot less lucrative with prize money of Rs 1 crore. Besides the stated prize money in the Indian Super League, participating clubs will also receive a sum determined by their respective teams’ position in the league table at the end of the league matches. The sum, also called the performance bonus, will be calculated as per the participation agreement. “Each team will at the end of the league matches be given a certain number of League Points depending on its final position in the league table before the play-off matches for that ISL season,” states the ISL rules, a copy of which is with TOI. “The ISL is a money-spinner and there is no denying that. The I-League, really, is an extremely poor cousin,” said one club official. The All India Football Federation, which governs the game and organizes the I-League, has often struggled to get sponsors on board for their blueriband competition. Worse still, at times, they have failed to pay the I-League winners even a year after the competition has ended. Significantly, ISL franchisees and I-League clubs spend an almost equal amount on the players for the season -- approx. Rs 11-12 crore -- although the ISL will involve several other cost like accommodation, infrastructure, youth development, support staff, media and match organisation. The ISL is a new franchise-based football tournament on the lines of the hugely-successful IPL T20 cricket.